It's a bit of a shame as XB1 loses something that made it unique although to be fair it has never seemed to get used to live up to the potential. My concern would be now XB1 turns into a console almost identical to PS4 except less powerful, why would you buy XB1 unless of course the exclusives suit you better.
I read somewhere that MS have also removed the requirements for Live Gold in order to get Netflix etc which is a long overdue good move I think.
For me the original vision of the XB1 with pure digital, friends and family sharing, TV & set top box control, media hub and integration into things like NFL in the US (holding out the hope for Formula One, World Cup etc but it doesn't seem to be happening) was a real attempt at a next generation console (although of course whoever specified the memory and GPU needs to be fired, re employed and then fired again).
I still hold out hope for MS to do something to surprise us but as it is they've back tracked so far XB1 is now just a less powerful PS4 at the same price
I can only hope that as MS seem to be open to accepting feedback from gamers and customers they give XB1 a revised GPU boost to something more powerful than even the current generation PS4. Yes it'll annoy early adopters but coupled with the reduced price (and lets face it, the XB1 case has the space and airflow to cope with a much higher spec GPU) it could be the shot in the arm XB1 needs to save the brand as the "gamers choice" as that's what they now seem to have reverted to for XB1. If a console lifespan is expected to be 7 years it's still early enough to say "we screwed up, heard the feedback and here's XB1.5".
Failing that I struggle to see how XB1 will remain competitive as a console over the next 5 years now...
With Balmer gone and a new CEO MS seem to be open to change. It makes sense then that they may choose to bite the bullet, accept XB1 is under powered when you take away it's unique strengths (which with the tacit admission Kinect is dead they have) and release a more powerful revision sooner rather than later in particular with 5 - 7 years ahead of it. For all the success of PS4 Sony are losing money hand over fist and so would be unlikely to be able to respond with a revised PS4 any time soon.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. Or MS may just decide to sell off the Xbox division. Perhaps MS & Nintendo do a deal, MS Xbox One hardware coupled with Nintendo software, games and IP? I really can't see MS being happy to accept they have a product being trounced by the only opposition for the next 5 years and do nothing about it one way or the other.
Either way I hope Xbox get's sorted and succeeds, losing it as a ecosystem in competition with Playstation would be bad for all console gamers.
